Asylum
by thE eKLeKtiK avrge JoE
Summary: Originally started by The Alchemist's Muse. Eleven years ago, the ghost Phantom was captured by the GIW and seventeen year old Danny Fenton disappeared. When he finally reappears, he's not quite the same Danny we've all come to know ...
1. Answers

**Disclaimer: Not mine!! I wish I could come up with something so great as this ... but alas, I am stuck with simply finishing the original ... YES, I AM DOING THIS WITH HER PERMISSION! So no flamers on that part. Bleh ...**

**Original Asylum fanfiction: http : / / www . fanfiction . net / s / 3257071 / 1 / Asylum**

**Original Asylum Comic: http : / the-alchemists-muse . deviantart . com / art / Asylum-pages-1-2-42255315**

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Light spilled onto the floor, breaking up the almost ever-present shadows. A low rumble sounded through the tiny room and the heavy mechanical door unlocked itself to allow a solitary human to enter. She had her battle suit fully activated, save for the helmet and weapons they had made her leave behind. Her black and red suit glowed a little, although whether or not it was a play of light on the shiny metal or just the suit was unknown. Her hair was the same length, give or take a few inches, it had been all those years ago, held back by what looked to be the same yellow bandanna.

Valerie Gray stood in the doorway, feeling rather than hearing the pneumatic hiss of the door closing firmly behind her. It was slightly nerve wracking not have an exit route just in case, not that she would need it, however they couldn't take the chance of _him_ escaping. Not that that she would let him, even if he could. They had reassured her that his restraints more or less paralyzed his powers, reducing his enormous strength inherent to his kind to the point that he was barely able to stand, let alone do much else.

The gloom of the room was broken only by a few dim lights built into the ceiling, illuminating the padded walls and the single figure kneeling in the center of the room. Eyes closed and head bowed, he looked a bit as if he was praying. Of course Valerie knew that wasn't the case. She hadn't seen him in eleven years, almost no one had, and she had only caught a quick glimpse of his new form before he was finally captured. As such, his appearance might have changed as though a human's would, though she doubted it. He probably looked as he did that fateful day.

She cleared her throat to catch his attention. His head whipped up to look at her, and she caught a glimpse of those eyes. Valerie looked into those eyes, slightly disturbed by their seemingly new appearance. The irises still retained their acid green color, but that was the end of the similarities. Where his eyes had been white, they were now black. In the light, the green revealed flecks of yellow and orange, and the bags under his eyes stood out starkly against his skin, taking on a more bruised affect than anything else. While his hair still fell in his face the same way, it had grown in length considerable, now ending just slightly below his shoulders. His hair certainly showed the need of some care and faded into a dark crimson red at the ends. The sides of his hazmat suit had been slit open down the sides, allowing the bright green bandages to show through, the color matching the different belts and chains adorning his arms and legs. Despite all this, the most surprising thing was the lanky adult that now replaced the kid she once fought.

She took a step closer and noticed for the first time the white straps crisscrossing his chest, his crossed arms, running around to the back, holding him as though he were in a straitjacket. Essentially, that was what they were, a form of straitjacket for a ghost.

Phantom cocked his head to the side after taking her person in, staring at her with those eyes. She stared back at him, not one to back down, despite the chills that eerie gaze sent through her.

"Huh." His voice was deeper than she had expected and in the flat air of the room, the echo rebounded on itself. "Are you … here to forgive me and get me out or-" here his neutral expression changed to one of solemn anxiety, "-did you come to rip me apart in vengeance?"

How she wished she could enact the latter of the question, but the GIW would be rather pissed if she took out their most prized possession. Valerie decided not to acknowledge him with an answer and raised her arm to deactivate the suit. The light from the reinforced window built into the door caught on the alloys in her armor. Phantom drew up his shoulders in defense, expecting her wrath to fall upon him suddenly and swiftly. Valerie almost wanted to smile when she saw his reaction to her, old animosity fueling the triumphant feeling coming from the knowledge he was afraid of her. She held her position for a moment, reveling in the fear from Phantom before scowling a little.

"None of the above, ghost. Your lucky day."

Vibrant rose whirls of energy surrounded her, the ecto-nanotechnology in her suit reducing it to nothingness until she needed it again. Phantom blinked in shock and raised his head from where it had dropped, surprised that she would offer a gesture of truce such as this. Both were powerless now, in a sense. No one had the advantage, Valerie having free hands aside. She brushed off the non-existent dirt off her shirt and decided she had wasted enough time. She'd never been especially patient and today was certainly no exception to the rule.

"I have questions, ghost," she said. "My employer told me your have the answers I need. That means I'm going to need you to be in one piece ... at least to start with."

Phantom stared up at her from his spot on the floor, his face more or less emotionless for a moment before cracking into a gigantic grin.

"Well, that's great! In that case, I'm really, really glad to see you!" Valerie almost fell over in shock.

"What?" Whatever she was expecting, it hadn't been for Phantom to react this way. The ghost immediately began to blabber on a bit, cheer seeping into his voice.

"Well, it's not like there are a ton of people to talk to around here and I can't exactly go looking for someone to have a conversation with." He sort of shrugged with his arms, indicating the straps that bound him. "Really, I'm happy to see just about anyone, but I'm real glad it's a friend," he said with a happy little grin, head cocked to the side again.

Even though Valerie knew that he was just playing mind games with her, she fell for it hook, line, and sinker and gave into her temper. "Friend? What the hell are you talking about?"

Phantom's expression turned nostalgic in a way as he gazed ahead. "You know. You're my friend and I'm yours. We used to play a game together all the time. Years ago. You made it up and started it and we'd play, but I was the only one you ever played with ..."

Valerie felt herself tense in anger at the concerned tone his voice took at this last sentence. He acted like it wasn't his fault at all that she'd been rejected from the popular group. And Phantom's false pity was incredible. He continued to speak though, as if unaware of Valerie's irritation. "I was glad when you stated hanging out with other people too. Like that Star girl."

She suddenly didn't like the way this conversation was going.

"Or Sam and Tuck-uh!" Valerie's foot connected with his right cheek before he could finish, sending the spook flying back, landing hard on his side. He laid there for a moment, clearly stunned before lifting his head to peer at her through his hair.

"Uh ... w-what did you do that for?" he muttered in a wounded tone. He struggled to stand without the use of his hands as Valerie watched, hands clenching into fists.

"Don't you dare speak of things in which you had no involvement, and act as though you know me," she said quietly, anger dripping from every syllable.

Phantom finally managed to get back on his knees, his back to her, when her words reached him. The white-haired man paused for a moment. "No involvement?" His voice was incredulous, but at the same time, Valerie could have sworn she could actually hear the smirk hidden in it. "Heh." Phantom started chuckling as he climbed to hi feet. "Heh. Heh heh. Heh ha. Haha. Ha!" The ghost burst into laughter as he turned to face her, seemingly in outright hysterics.

Valerie stared at the insane ghost, remembering just who she was dealing with until Phantom broke her train of thought. "So ... you said you wanted to ask me something?"

"Uh ... yeah, I did." She'd actually forgotten her purpose for coming here for a moment. She paused, carefully wording together her next words. How to ask? Better to do things her usual way. "You, did you ever hear of a ghost named Clockwork?"

The change that came over Phantom's face was almost fascinating to watch. His eyes went as wide as possible, looking as if he'd been suddenly punched, his face twisting into an expression of something that Valerie just couldn't explain. It might have been outright horror, or anguish maybe. Whatever it was, it was tinted with some ghostliness that made his face seen almost grotesque.

"Clo-Clockwork?" Phantom rasped, his voice suddenly sounding dry and choked. Valerie crossed her arms and waited for the ghost to say more. If that expression didn't say 'guilty,' she didn't know did. Phantom drew his shoulders up once more around his ears, staring at Valerie's feet as he stuttered, obviously no order to his thoughts.

"Ah ... I-I ... Ca- ... I don't ..."

Valerie watched him for a moment before an idea struck her. She'd just play his weaknesses. With this thought, Valerie turned on her heels and started towards the exit with a "hmph" just loud enough for the ghost to hear. "Fine, don't answer. I'll just go. See you never." She grimaced before muttering under her breath, "What a waste of my time."

It seemed to work, for Phantom's head snapped to attention the moment she showed signs of leaving.

"Ah! W-Wait! Hey, d-don't leave!" he yelped, an almost hysterical not creeping into his voice. Valerie stopped, standing not an inch from the door. Phantom only took a few seconds to compose himself somewhat before attempting to a question of his own, still stammering slightly.

"That name ... Where did you hear that name? Clock-um ..." Phantom stopped halfway through the name as if unable to continue.

"Not that I pay attention or anything, but a few of my targets have been muttering that name." Valerie answered without turning around.

"What?" Phantom sounded bewildered and began to mutter quietly to himself, seemingly unable to completely say the name 'Clockwork.' Valerie managed to pick out the phrase "Why would ghosts be talk about Clock-?"

"Ha! So you _do_ know something!" She turned to glare triumphantly at Phantom. He looked stricken, but before he could protest, Valerie closed the space between them and grabbed the front of his suit. " Spill it, ghost," she growled at him.

"Um ... well ... he's, um ..." Phantom smiled sheepishly at her. "What do you want me to say?"

Valerie could feel a vein pulsing on her forehead. "Huh?"

"Clo-he's different things to different people." Phantom said, stepping back as Valerie released him from her grip. "A rescuer. An imprisoner. An employer ..."

"Right. So what is he to you?" Valerie raised an eyebrow at him. She swore he was trying to be difficult.

"For me?" A frown appeared on Phantom's face as he lifted his head to look directly up at the ceiling. "All of that, my teacher, my surrogate parent ..." His voice trailed off and an even more apprehensive look appeared on his face. The next words fell from his mouth as if they weighed a thousand tons. "And if need ever be, my executioner."

Valerie very much wished that he'd start saying some stupid banter or something interesting instead of this completely _useless_ shit he was now spouting with such melodrama. She expressed such a wish by calmly taking off her boot and chucking it directly at Phantom's head. It hit the same spot she'd kicked earlier.

"_You're a pain in the ass!_" she yelled, angrily clenching her fists. "I mean, don't you ever talk in actual connected paragraphs instead of just random fragments? Ugh!"

Phantom just swayed on the spot a bit, looking dazed by his second head injury in under half an hour. Valerie turned around to leave, sure that she wasn't going to get anymore from him, and yanked open the door that the GIW unlocked merely seconds ahead of time, since they'd been watching the entire ordeal through security cameras. She made a distinct point to slam the door behind her.

Danny flinched at the loud noise the door sent to his over-sensitive eardrums. His already increased senses were tenfold what they had been when he was fifteen. While the padded cell he spent every moment of his life in normally didn't cause problems, lack of exposure to anything seemed to have lowered his comfort levels. He shuddered to think of what the day sun would be like to his twilight-adjusted eyes. It was then that the door creaked open again and Valerie gazed in sullenly, looking for her missing boot. Upon finding it, she quickly darted in, snatching said boot, before departing again. This time, however, she didn't bother to slam the door, much to Danny's relief.

He sighed half-heartedly.

"Ah, well," he muttered, pouting a little. "Maybe I was just hallucinating again." He sat down as best he could before continuing to voice his thoughts. "All she did was kick me and throw a boot at me. The Valerie I knew probably wouldn't have done any less than rip me apart molecule by molecule. Or something like that." He paused for a moment before admitting to the empty room, "Still wouldn't mind seeing her again though. Illusion or not ..." The room didn't have an answer for him. Maybe it hadn't seen Valerie and agreed he was hallucinating.

And then Danny's abused cranium started throbbing and stinging from Valerie's 'eloquent' response to his comments. Danny gritted his teeth and wished very badly that he could rub his head, even if it wouldn't do anything. "Ow, my head hurts ... awfully solid hallucination, that was." Straitjackets were annoying, he decided.

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

Valerie walked over to where she'd laid her black weapon bag against a nearby wall. To either side of her the brightly lit hallway stretched on, the walls dotted with other containment cells and the occasional machinery and computer console. Everything was either chrome, iron-grey, off-white, or a pale glowing blue. As Valerie lifted her weapons bag from the floor, she was startled by a sudden voice behind her.

"Why did you deactivate you battle suit, Miss Gray?"

Valerie jumped and turned her head to see a pair of wide-shouldered men with shaved heads, dressed in identical white suits, black hazmat gloves, earpiece communicators and sunglasses. The GIW, or the Guys In White. The two agents standing behind her seemed to be the same who were originally assigned to capture Phantom, although given that pretty much all the agents were nearly identical, they might just as well not have been.

She picked up her weapons bag with a projected casualty. "Phantom was nervous as long as I was wearing it. He only relaxed long enough to speak once he felt I was unarmed. "Valerie grinned slyly at the GIW agents. "But why should it matter? Afraid he'd attack me or escape? Didn't you guys inform me before I entered the containment cell that his restraints were modified to drain him, reduce him to barely standing?"

Valerie was right, of course. There was no reason for the GIW to get upset if what they'd told her was true. The agents in questions simply ignored this logic, however, and decided to change the subject.

"Did you get the information you wanted?" asked one agent.

Valerie felt a vein pulse in her forehead. These guys went out of their way to annoy her it seemed, and even more so than Phantom.

"Why do you just change the subject whenever I start to prove my point?"

"Did you get the information?" the other agent asked, and Valerie had to suppress a groan of frustration.

"No. He started freaking out after I questioned him about the name 'Clockwork' and I couldn't get any real facts from him after that."

"Ah! So you found another one of his triggers?" A new voice. Valerie jumped and turned to look towards the source of the voice.

"What's with you people and sneaking ... huh?" Valerie trailed off as she blinked in recognition. "You're-"

"Long time, no see, Valerie," said the Asian man standing behind her, sporting a pair of glasses, and a lab coat over slacks, a dress shirt, and a tie. "Hey guys," he addressed the GIW agents. "Would you mind if I accompanied our guest to the exit? I need to ask her a few questions."

"Permission granted," an agent replied. Both turned on their heels and stomped off, leaving Valerie and Kwan behind. Valerie immediately turned as well and began walking to the lobby of the facility with Kwan in tow.

"So," Valerie peered curiously at Kwan, "what are you doing here?"

Kwan grinned before answering. "Wll, for starters, I work here. I a psychologist specializing in ecto-biology."

She paused a moment before asking, "Ok ... so you're a ghost shrink?"

"Eh, sure, why not?" Kwan laughed.

They reached the lobby, a rather hospitalized version of a waiting room, and Valerie stopped just before the doors leading out. She noted the ghost detector and shield planted over the top of the doorframe.

"In any case," Kwan continued," how did Phantom react to your presence? After deactivating the suit but before he ... 'freaked out,' as you put it."

"Oh, well," Valerie paused, knowing what she was about to say sounded rather unusual. "He acted, well, he acted actually happy. Like he was glad I came."

"He ... did?" Kwan stared at her in shock. The ecto-psychologist turned away from Valerie, mumbling to himself. "Bizarre ... that makes two ..."

"I get 'bizarre,' but what do you mean 'two?'" Valerie asked Kwan's back. He answered her without turning around.

"Phantom normally acts almost feral. When he responds at all, anyway. Most of the time he just seems to be in a bit of a stupor." Kwan looked meaningfully back at Valerie. "But now there are two people to whom he acts human-like and seems happy to see. There's you and me."

Valerie blinked in confusion. While she could tell this fascinated Kwan as a scientist who studied the mentality of ghosts, and it was rather odd, it didn't seem like much of a big deal to her. "Okay, so what does this mean?"

"Kwan grinned apologetically and shrugged. "No clue, other than you and I are the only ones who can talk to Phantom, and even then, only for a little while."

"Why's that?" Valerie decided to sit down in one of the chairs lining the walls, the heavy weapons bag pulling at her shoulders.

"He freaks. Hears the wrong word and ahe goes into hysterics. Sometimes the word, his 'trigger,' is simple and common - I think the term 'left arm' set him off once - and sometimes it isn't. There were a couple of times when he had a hallucination induced by his 'trigger.'"

Valerie's mind turned this over for a moment before the word's impact hit. She jolted straight up in her chair. "Wait, wait, wait. He _hallucinated_?"

"The GIW agents seriously didn't tell you anything about his mental state at all?" Kwan's troubled expression did nothign to make Valerie feel better. _Ignorance is bliss, Valerie_, she thought.

"What's to know?" So much for ignorance.

"Phantom has been declared, by myself and others, as having no less than two psychological disorders. Possibly more." Kwan looked more serious than Valerie had ever seen him before. "He has been diagnosed with chronic insomnia, hysteria, oneirophrenia, and possibly some variant of schizophrenia."

Valerie understood what he was saying. _Phantom is insane._

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

Danny Phantom felt the clearness he'd felt when Valerie (Had it been her? Really?) had come start to fade. The sense of the unreality he's spent years at a time in start to return, and with that return, he felt each muscle slacken, his brain unable to tell whether his muscules were responding to its singals or not. He stared dully across the room and waited. Waited. Waited, waited. Waiting.

He couldn't remember what he was waiting for.


	2. Whisper

**A/N: I'm so sorry it took so long to get this up! Various events that I'm sure you don't wish to hear about have kept me from writing … but I'm back! I'm going to try to get two chapters up this week.**

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Two GIW agents lounged in the hall, one calmly drinking coffee. Both were the stereotypical image of stoic, detached government agents, seemingly completely emotionless.

"You people sent me into the cell of a ghost that is not only an insomniac, but hysterical and schizophrenic as well! _Without_ telling me!"

The agents jumped, and the one with coffee promptly spilled it on himself. So much for stoicism. From down the hall, Valerie's delayed reaction had hit all those in her immediate vicinity. She crossed the space between herself and the objects of her attention with a speed that scared the two bigger men. She didn't stop with invading their personal space with her wrath either. By the time Kwan had caught up to her, she seemed about two seconds away from throttling the agents into unconsciousness. Kwan was nervously edging up behind her as she glared death at the current trembling agent in her grip.

"Uh …" Kwan started. His memories of Valerie's wrath and her current display of temper gave him pause before he was able to gather enough courage to continue on. "Phantom also has oneirophrenia. It causes persons affected by it to have a feeling of constant dream-like unreality, which in its extreme forms may cause delusions and hallucinations. It's a schizophrenia-like acute form of psychosis-"

Valerie looked over her shoulder at him, momentarily distracted from the GIWs she was inflicting a near death experience upon.

"I don't care if it means he farts fireballs! Why the hell didn't anyone tell me?"

It was then that Valerie's victim decided to try and save his skin. "W-we weren't notified you were uninformed about Phantom's psychological ailments-" He choked slightly when Valerie tightened her grip on his throat. Kwan immediately stepped forward to prevent any unfortunate events, prying her hands from the agent's collar and pulling her by the shoulder down the hall.

"Yes, yes. Come on, Valerie. They won't make that mistake again," he coaxed to the fuming ghost hunter. "The receptionist told me your employer sent your driver and your ride should be here any second now, so let's go." Kwan's only response back was a grunt of reluctance from Valerie as he, more or less, pusher her through the double doors that led outside. After waiting for less than a minute, a small black limo pulled up around the entranceway. Valerie rolled her eyes at the rather fancy car. Her employer had a taste for the grandeur that she didn't share. Very likely, this was the plainest car he had to offer.

"Sorry you couldn't find out what you wanted from Phantom," Kwan said to Valerie as she climbed into the backseat. "Hey, if you need anymore access to our facility, just give me a ring, alright?"

Valerie nodded appreciatively before closing the door, and leaning slightly out the window. "Thanks, Kwan. Guess I'll see you around."

Kwan waned as the car pulled away. He gave a wistful sigh. "Why didn't I just take her to that dance back then?"

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

Valerie stared glumly out the window. She'd directed the driver to drop her off at her apartment complex, but it was at least an hour's drive. She'd learned absolutely nothing of interest from Phantom other than he was mentally unstable and had some sort of connection with this 'Clockwork' ghost. She was seriously irritated with the fact that the name alone was enough to make Phantom get hysterical, forcing her to bring her questioning to an end. A beeping from her pocket brought her out of her thoughts. She pulled out the cell phone, taking a moment to glance at the screen before answering it.

"Hello, Mr. Masters … Yeah. I was trying to find out more. I managed to talk to Phantom, but- … What! But you were the one who said- … Yeah, of course I knew where to find him. Wait, you didn't … Mr. Masters? Sir, aren't you funding that particular branch of the GIW? How is it you weren't aware Phantom was … Oh. Yeah. Yes, sir. I'll get right on it." He hung up on her, apparently satisfied with that answer.

Valerie snapped the phone shut, staring at it for a few moments before anxiously looking out the window again. It bothered her that Mr. Masters had seemed shocked to discover that he was, in fact, financer to the very building Phantom was being held in. Usually, he seemed to know just about everything that he involved himself in. For him to be in the dark about something as big as this was disturbing, to say the least.

Valerie shook her head to clear it. None of this mattered right now. She had other things to take care of.

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

Danny sat slumped in the corner farthest from the cell door. He felt the haze descending on his mind again, making every thought seem blurred and fuzzy.

_It's quiet_, he mused silently, closing his eyes. _Everything … it all seems so vague._ He closed his eyes tighter, feeling dizzy.

"Danny …"

His eyes snapped open. He blinked, startled by the sudden noise. _That voice … is it?_ He couldn't _not_ recognize it, how could he? He almost didn't dare turn to see if it was-

"Danny … look …" The sound echoed from off to his right again. He felt a surge of happiness. _That's-_

"Mom!" he yelped cheerfully. He whipped his head around to see her, an excited grin on his face. "Mo-"

He stopped short, staring, shock freezing him, save his eyes as they widened at the sight before him. His expression shifted then, becoming utter terror.

_Drip._

_Drip._

_Drip._

Danny's ears couldn't pick up the sound of the blood drops hitting the floor, but his mind insisted there was a noise. He started to tremble as he looked at the nightmare that was standing before him, a horror that took the shape of mother, drenched in her own blood from various wounds covering her body. She-no, it was holding her hands up to its face, looking vacantly between them at Danny.

"Oh sweetie," the apparition said, a sad half grin on its face, blood running down it. "Look at what you've done to me."

She stretched a stained hand until she was almost touching the side of Danny's face. He felt his pulse increase with fear the closer she got, even though he knew –_he knew_- this wasn't real. This was just another hallucination visiting him. But the terror that was gripping him was real, gripping him tight, digging its claws in and he couldn't get away from this monster.

"Danny, why?" The hallucination's hand was barely a hair's width away from him when Danny unfroze from his shock.

"NO!" Danny screamed and threw himself as far back against the wall as he could, the ghost-proof pads covering it refusing to wield to his attempts to sink through. He shuddered and squeezed his eyes closed as tight as he could, turning his head to the side, away from the bleeding image of his mother.

"N-no!" Danny gasped. "I di- I didn't … No, go away!" He curled up, pulling his knees up to his face. "Please … go away, disappear, disappear. Oh god, please …" He shuddered, gritting his teeth and shaking his head in an attempt to rid his mind of these images. "I don't want to see. Disappear, please. You're not real," he whispered. "Please, disappear, I don't want to see …"

Silence. The "sound" of dripping blood was gone, Danny realized. After a minute of gathering his courage, he opened an eye a little, peering through his hair. He wished he hadn't.

The nightmare visage of Maddie had leaned down so that she was directly face to face with Danny. It smiled sickly as she gazed at him.

"All your fault, Danny."

"No!" Danny yelled again and scrambled to the side, struggling to stand up without the use of his arms before tripping and falling flat on his face. "S-stop … leave me alone!" he muttered as he pulled himself up slowly. He _knew_ it was just an illusion created by his own broken mind, but it still hurt. He didn't want to think, didn't want to see, didn't want to hear words accusing him of some terrible act that resulted in the fatal injury of someone he had loved.

Danny threw his head back, squeezed his eyes shut and screamed, "_Leave me alone!!_"

He gasped, a jolt running through him. The green-eyed ghost blinked and saw what was standing in front of him for the first time. A powerfully built African-American man dressed in an all-white suit. A typical GIW agent, save for the short Mohawk-like haircut. He held Danny's head back as he pulled the tranquilizer syringe from Danny's neck. The tiny amount of the substance left on the needle glowed a sickly violet, hinting at the use of ectoplasm in its formula.

Danny swayed for a moment, eyes wide as the sedative circulated his body until his eyes dulled and he swayed once more before collapsing completely with a groan. His sight weaved in and out before him as the agent leaned down to stare and the set of straps holding Danny's arms, a flicker of concern crossing his usually emotionless face. After a moment, the man turned to go, marching purposefully out of the cell. Danny struggled to lift his head to watch him go.

As he left, the man walked past the quickly disappearing hallucination of his mother. Danny let his head fall with a thump and smiled remorsefully. "Good … ridd … ance," he managed to mumble as his thoughts clouded and the room became even dimmer before going completely black.

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

Kwan Li had graduated college with a masters in ectobiology, his specialty being in psychology. Although he had by no means been at the top of his class at the time, he'd been hired almost immediately by the GIW to help keep the ghosts they captured under control. In exchange, he was paid generously and allowed to record anything he discovered that applied to his field of study.

Now, here he was, peering into the cell of a creature with enough power to take out a city without breaking a sweat while his boss calmly walked into the cell to subdue said creature. The man was unarmed, save for the tranquilizer needle and two agents quietly arguing behind him. Kwan could've sworn he heard something about which bleach works best on suits. They immediately shut up as the cell door opened and Supervisor Marshall stomped out.

"Has the lab reported whether or not the new ectodraining restraints are finished yet?" Marshall growled at the agents.

"We haven't hear, sir," one of the men said before Kwan could say anything.

"Well, find out!" Obviously, the answer was not what the Supervisor was looking for.

"Uh … sir?" Kwan raised a hand as if in school in hopes of getting his boss's attention. No such luck with the agents around.

"We'll try to get things to hurry up, sir, but it might not be a good idea to make it a rush job. For safety issues."

Kwan blinked in frustration as Marshall turned his attention to them again.

"Well, try anyway."

"Uh … supervisor?" Kwan sputtered, thoroughly indignant at being ignored in favor of a couple of combat agents. "Sir? _Excuse me?_"

All three of the other GIW turned to stare at him. After a moment of awkward pause, Marshall spoke. "What is it, Dr. Li?"

Kwan sighed with exasperation. "Those new restraints were finished two weeks ago. It'll only take a few minutes to get one." Mentally, he cursed the fact that lab scientists were overlooked quite often, and really were only there just to make the combat agents look good.

Marshall didn't even bat an eyelash at Kwan's statement and nodded curtly. "Very good. Here, hold this while I retrieve a set of the restraints then," he said, tossing the still not-completely-empty tranquilizer syringe he'd used on Phantom at Kwan, who yelped and fumbled with it for a moment before managing to get a safe grip upon it.

As Kwan breathed a sigh of relief for having spent years of high school playing football, one of the combat GIW agents hesitantly began to say something before stopping to gather his courage. He finally just decided to get it other with and got Marshall's attention by lightly tapping his shoulder. The agent cringed when Marshall turned to glare at him.

"Sir, we're going to change Phantom's restraints _now_?"

"Isn't that rather dangerous?" his partner asked.

Marshall's face went completely blank as he turned completely so he was essentially staring down at them, something easily done being the six-foot-four that he was. "Oh?" he muttered. "Well think about this." Marshall's face grew darker as he talked. "He's begun to break his current restraints. When I sedated him, I saw one of the major straps had already snapped in half."

The two agents paled at the news. The restraints weren't just supposed to be ghost proof, they actively suppressed a ghost's powers to twenty five percent of its normal abilities and had the strength to hold an enraged bull elephant. They _had_ tested it after all.

"That's … unsettling," said one agent, searching for the right work.

"What a monster," the other agreed, pulling on his collar slightly.

Kwan stared at the syringe in his hands, turning it over and looking at the few drops of glowing lavender substance within. "If that's the case," he said, face serious, "we should definitely change them right now, while Phantom's sedated."

There was a quiet moment while Marshall glared at the two agents, waiting for them to get the message. He didn't know why he even tried. "Well?" he finally said, starting to loose his temper. "Go get the restraints. _Now!!_"

The two agents dashed off in the direction of the science department without a word, not wanting to anger the man anymore than they had. Marshall watched them for a moment before looking over his shoulder at Kwan. "Dr. Li, go get another tranquilizer and an ecto-pistol you know how to handle."

Kwan blinked in surprise. "Sir? What for?"

The look on Marshall's face was giving Kwan a serious case of the creeps. The only time he'd felt more nervous was whenever he needed to go into a ghost's cell to question them for research. Oh. Wait …

"You'll need them because you're coming in with us as precautionary backup."

Five minutes later, Kwan was trembling like a leaf during a hurricane season in front of Phantom's cell while Marshall punched the entry code into the pad next to the cell door. The two agents from earlier were standing on both Kwan's left and right, giving him the uncomfortable illusion that they were there to keep him from running away. The agent on his left noticed Kwan's chattering teeth and peered curiously at his terrified face.

"Dr. Li, you've spoken alone with Phantom before, haven't you?" the agent asked with what was almost a puzzled frown. "Why are you so nervous?"

Kwan gave him a nervous grin. "Y-yeah, but he's always had ecto-draining restraints before. This … is slightly different."

It was then that the door swung open, casting light directly lying in a heap on the floor of the cell. Kwan flinched as the door shut automatically. It would take less time for them to get out due to the small remotes they each carried, but it would still take more time than Kwan felt was necessary.

Marshall stepped forward, staring at Phantom's apparently unconscious form. "You two, he said, addressing to agents, "hold the ghost up. Dr. Li, be ready with the ecto-pistol and sedative in case we need them."

The agents stepped cautiously forward until they were standing directly next to where Phantom lay. With the odd teamwork the GIW agents so often seemed to instinctively posses, they calmly propped Phantom up onto his knees, supporting him with a hang on each shoulder. The white-haired ghost's head lolled forward, casting his face into deep shadows.

Marshall leaned down in front of them, holding up a small device he's picked up while Kwan was getting the backup supplies and the agents were getting the new restraints. He took a deep breath, showing his sign of nervousness.

"Alright then," the large man muttered before pressing the button on the small device. Immediately, the restraints binging Phantom already snapped off and fell to the floor in response to the silent signal given off by the control and Phantom's arms fell from their crossed position to hang by his sides for the first time in years. The agents glanced nervously at each other at this point, unable to deny that they weren't worried that Phantom was not only returned to full power, but also unsecured.

Marshall ignored this, however, and unlocked a silver briefcase he's brought in with him. Kwan swallowed anxiously behind him. The case opened to reveal a straitjacket-like item folded carefully within it. Kwan watched, ecto-pistol in hand, as Marshall took the new restraints from it's case and, kneeling behind Phantom's still from, began to carefully fit it onto the ghost, wrapping it around his arms so that they were completely immobile. The agents had stood back and drawn their own ecto-pistols while their boss worked, ready in case Phantom were to prove dangerous, even in such a sedated state.

Marshall stood back suddenly, the clasps on the back of Phantom's straitjacket snapping together. The man stood, breathing a sigh of relief. "Good," he said. "It seemed we were lucky. His immunity to tranquilizers didn't kick in." The agents followed him as he marched towards the cell door.

Kwan just stared ahead for a moment, blinking. "Wow," he murmured as the three GIW employees passed him. He had been the one to report that Phantom usually revived from the tranquilizers used on him hours before expected. Of course, he was the one who had been worried even the new dose they'd just put Phantom on wouldn't have been enough. "Nothing happen-"

"Nnn … uh …"

Kwan couldn't help starting to tremble again at the noise that came from the ghost in from of him as Phantom raised his head and looked groggily at him, his eerie eyes blurred.

"So … is that … all you guys … came for?" The ghost's deep voice slurred slightly due to the sedatives.

Kwan took a step back. The other agents had already make their way out of the cell by now.

"No!" the psychologist gasped. "You were … _awake_ the entire time?!"

Phantom cocked his head to one side and looked confused. If Kwan hadn't been utterly terrified, he would've laughed the almost drunken state the ghost was in.

"That stuff? It was supposed to knock me out?" Phantom actually giggled a little. "Oops …"

"B-but how long did it work for?" Kwan managed to squeeze out.

Phantom stared solemnly back at Kwan, earlier humor lost. "Didn't you … hear me? It never worked. Insomnia … 'member?" Phantom's expression grew even graver. "I can't sleep. Not … ever …"

Kwan blinked, remembering that, yes, Phantom did indeed have a chronic case of insomnia. Hell, come to think of it, he'd never heard of Phantom having slept in the eleven years the ghost had been … locked …. Kwan's eyes widened as a sudden moment of realization came over him.

"Wait … then …"

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

_Insomnia …_

The time in the corner of computer screen read 2:30 AM and the glow from the screen cast an eerie light on Kwan's face as he browsed his own research files. He sighed as he closed another page, not finding anything of real worth in his search.

"If Phantom were human, the insomnia could be considered the cause of his other illnesses …"

Kwan scowled at a piece of his writing that, in retrospect, made him wonder if he'd been drunk when he'd written it. _But since he's a ghost, and I don't actually know when his insomnia set in …_It all depended on which disorder bad begun affecting the ghost first. If Kwan was right, and the insomnia had been first, a lot of controversy over Phantom's state could be cleared up. A stroke of inspiration struck and he typed at the keyboard, logging off his own personal account and accessing a different one. _What does the Records Department say?_

Kwan smiled as the files opened before him … then the smile turned to shock.

"Wh-what … the _hell_?"

_.::~\/~::._.::~\/~::._.::~\/~::._

**Don't kill me please!**


	3. Forgotten

**Disclaimer: I just borrow the toys. They aren't mine.**

**A/N: Sorry, my lovelies. I know, I keep promising you more but all I give you are excuses. Life is just hectic. Working full time, school, life in general. Anyway, I'm trying my best to finish when I can.**

_.::~\/~::._.::~\/~::._.::~\/~::._

Danny leaned once more against the side of his prison after Kwan had left in a sudden rush. He blinked, frustrated, feeling Kwan's questions and his own answers beginning to dredge up things he didn't want to remember. But he couldn't stop himself from thinking, and, as thoughts tend to do, the more he tried not to think, the more he did.

Danny closed his and let his head droop forward as he fell into an oneirophrenia-induced, trance-like state. His memories played before his eyes as if he were really there, in the memories.

He hadn't been scared of It. Not at first …

And He was just another ghost to defeat. At first …

But the nightmares got worse.

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

_A monster with pale grayish green skin and flaming white hair grins at him, his sharp fangs showing, his entire countenance covered in blood. It isn't the fangs or the blood that's so frightening, however. It's … it's-_

"NOO!" A screamed ripped from fourteen year old Danny Fenton's throat as he sat upright with a start. He stared without really seeing for a moment, still locked in his dream and gasping for air, only to be brought back to reality, to the present. He looked around his room for any lurking monsters, sighing when nothing too frightening made itself known. Sure, there was some leftover food from last week that Danny was sure evolved into a living organism, but he could deal with that with some rubber gloves and bleach.

He pulled his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, trying to ward off the cold that had nothing to do with the temperature in the room. Danny clenched his teeth and tried to calm himself.

"It was just … It was just another dream," he murmured aloud, trying to dispel the trembling making its way throughout the entire body. Danny sat there, huddled in a ball on his bed, and waited for morning to come rather than facing that … the _thing_ that waited in his dreams.

Whenever he had those dreams, he wouldn't go back to sleep for the rest of the night.

Day. School.

Danny leaned forward, letting his forehead press against the cool surface of his locker, feeling the exhaustion in every sell of his body. He knew it couldn't be healthy to get as little sleep as he had been, but-

"Danny? Yo Danny!"

The voice cut through the stupor building in his brain and Danny glanced to the side. Tucker and Sam stood in the empty school hallway, both looking at Danny with concern.

"Hey, Danny, are you ok?" Tucker asked. Sam said nothing, but the worry was all too obvious in her questioning eyes.

"Uh …" Danny pulled away from the lockers and gazed at his friends for a moment. He could've told them. He _should've_ told them. Instead, he pulled his face into a grin before replying. "Yeah, I'm fine!" he says reassuringly.

Later that day, Danny, Sam, and Tucker all laughed and joked around as they ate their lunches. Tucker was managing to play with his PDA while eating, before stopping to gesture casually as he told some soon-to-be-forgotten story to his friends. Sam raised her hand in emphasis as she responded and Danny played the middle ground as usual, leaning casually against the table.

They weren't aware that the person who had come back from the future the day before the CAT's hadn't been 'Danny.' Clock – _he _had made it so that the events that took place afterwards never happened. They didn't know he hadn't just beaten his older self while in the future and then had followed them home.

Danny chuckled at another small argument Sam and Tucker were having. He had driven the thoughts of the nightmare he'd been having for months from his mind and simply enjoyed the company of his two best friends.

'It' had never happened. Why should they need to know?

Night.

Danny squirmed in his sleep, clutching at his pillow and shuddering under his blankets. He curled into a ball and whimpered at the images running through his unconscious mind. He clenched his teeth even tighter and continued to tremble.

It was the same. Always the same, even if the exact events were different …

_Small fires crackle over the rubble, the wind howling as it blows through gutted buildings and over abandoned vehicles. The concrete and asphalt of the streets have been ripped out and completely torn up in places. Metal is jutting up, twisted and melted, a street sign with a chunk ripped out, pipes lying scattered on the ground. _

_Desolation …_

_A sheet of metal from the ghost portal's center lays near the Fenton Works neon sign, now discarded on the street. The top of a mailbox is scattered between them and so is the still arm of a female form, a bloody slash running across her torso, an ecto-pistol lying where it had fallen from her hand as she was attacked._

_Always, he stood as the city crumbled and he saw the death of everyone he loved._

_Sam sits huddled against what was once probably a wall to some building, now almost completely erased from existence. Her right hand clutches at her left arm, an ugly wound bleeding just below her shoulder. She stares up, petrified, at the shadow that has brought this apocalypse to Amity Park._

"_Danny …" she whispers, her eyes growing wide with terror._

At his own hands.

_The Beast that has caused all this destruction crouches animal-like, one hand on the ground, the other supported on its knee. The flaming white hair on its head moves silently, as if to move with the non-existent wind. The glowing red eyes bore into whatever they land on as it grins horribly, the face that was once Danny's twisting into something inhuman and evil. There is blood splashed on its face, chest, and hands. Its hands are drenched in crimson, even though it could have finished anything it met quickly and cleanly with a single ecto-blast._

_He saw it all through Its crimson eyes._

_It pauses for a moment, seemingly savoring the moment before raising a clawed hand with obvious slowness, holding it up in the air ominously._

_He felt every emotion It felt._

_The terrible expression on the monster's face grows more pronounced. It is eager to kill, to destroy again. Sam put her good arm over her head and drew against the wall even more._

"_Danny!" she gasps. "Why are you doing this?!"_

_The Phantasm standing before her pauses, clawed hand above him. A casual, surprised look comes over the Beast's face._

"_Why?" The monster's deep voice is almost identical to that of the other self, the one seeing all this in his mind in his padded cell. But there is an extra echo to it, making it hollow. "Ah, Sam, that's easy." _

_The monster's near innocent expression morphs, and the expression now on his face bears only a slight resemblance to the smile it is actually meant to be. He draws back his lips to show the fangs in his mouth. There is blood on them. _

"_It's because I can!" _

_He draws back his raised hand, and ectoplasm flickers around it, casting a sickly green glow on his face._

_These dreams always ended the same too._

_The nightmarish creature is laughing as he brings down his hand and the lethal plasma around it on the girl's head._

"NO!"

Danny yelped as his head met the ground. He laid there on his back, stunned for a few seconds. It took him another moment to realize the throbbing on his head was from falling out of bed during the dream. Danny pulled himself up into a sitting position, looking at his feet. He was in his own room, not the burning, crumbling city of his dreams. Those were his NASA posters on the walls, his basketball on the floor near the mirror-

His eyes went wide and he whips his head up to look at the mirror. His own reflection stared back, eyes wide with fear. He breathed a cautious sigh of relief. For just a few seconds, he thought he'd seen that older, twisted version of himself grinning sadistically in the glass. The only scary thing about him were the bags under his eyes from the constant lack of sleep.

It was then that he had decided.

Danny leaned over the bathroom sink, his hand pressed against the bathroom mirror, shadows reflected oddly in the artificial light. He stared down at the faucet for a moment, refusing to glance at the mirror he can feel under his hand. His thoughts aren't churning the way they before his decision. His hand tensed and clenched slightly.

He just wasn't going to sleep anymore.

The first night that he didn't even attempt to sleep he waited it out, sitting on his bed trying desperately to keep his eyes open. He felt almost numb by the time the sun began to shine through the window as dawn approached.

If he didn't sleep, there wouldn't be any more nightmares. He'd just have to wait them out …

School. Danny blinked blearily, realizing the blurry shape in front of him was Mr. Lancer. The man frowned, and held out the essay with Danny's name on it.

… Even if there were a few negative side affects.

He smiled sheepishly upon seeing the red 'F' on it and looked at the floor, the kid next to him, his own shoes, the ceiling, anything except his more than dismal grade or a scowling Mr. Lancer.

And things began to feel … dreamlike. As if he was disconnected from reality.

Danny cradled his head in his hands, staring at nothing. This feeling of numbness that threatened to over everything within him, what was it? Was it because he hadn't slept in weeks? How long would normal humans be able to go? He wished he knew.

But he was too afraid to sleep.

Danny Phantom leaned backwards quickly, ducking lower than he'd known he was able to as the slimy ectoplasmic tentacle whipped through the air where his head had been only a split second before. He straightened up to glare at the ghost floating in front of him. It was a dripping monster that seemed little more that a pile of glowing ectoplasm with tentacles, glowing red eyes, and a toothless mouth. Behind it, Amity Park was cast darkly against the sky, the crescent moon providing minimum light.

And yet, there had been no bad impact on his ghost hunting.

Danny pulled back his fist as he began to fly toward the monster, ectoplasm charging around it to add more force to the punch. His fist collided with the ghost's slimy face and the creature is sent reeling back, unconscious and easy to capture in the Fenton thermos. Danny blinked, a little surprised, he hadn't put _that_ much power behind his punch, had he?

In fact, it had the adverse affect.

Six months since Danny ceased sleeping. He glared angrily at his opponent, refusing to give in. He wouldn't let it beat him. He'd faced much worse than this! But the fact that his parents had grounded him due to the terrible, horrible things it said wasn't really helpful. His report card sat on the floor and the F's stared up evenly, not wavering one bit. He really, _really_ hated that piece of paper.

"I'm not surprised Mom and Dad grounded you for three weeks. Honestly, Danny, what's going on?"

Danny looked over his shoulder at Jazz, hands on her hips and standing in his doorway. He scowled at her and turned away in a huff. He didn't want her lecture.

"Go away, Jazz," he practically growls.

Behind him, Jazz's anxious look became a frown as she stared at her baby brother's back. Danny could feel her gaze prickling on the back of his neck and he drew up his shoulders stubbornly. She sighed after a moment and turned to leave, stopping only to glance back at Danny for a moment.

"Danny, look. You've got to remember you can talk to me about anything. I know something's up … and I'm going to find out what it is. You can't handle everything by yourself all the time. Even superheroes need saving."

He waited until he heard her close the door to her own room before glancing back at where she had stood. A pang of guilt had gone through him at her parting words and he couldn't help but feel slightly remorseful at his angry actions. She couldn't know though, so he shook his head and turned on the TV perched where the mirror used to be. He got rid of the thing two months ago, when he became unable to stand seeing his own reflection. Danny sat and watched without paying attention, not noticing that sunset had already arrived in the time that he had been there. The strange dream-like state that had been occurring more and more often slipped over him and Danny was too dazed to notice his eyes slipping shut.

"Ah!" Danny's eyes snapped open, realization coming over him. He'd been falling asleep. He blinked and looked around, realizing that he was no longer in his room. Instead, he seemed to be standing, or even floating, in a dimly lit empty space. The light had a dull rust orange color to it.

Danny looked about, confused. If he was dreaming, it wasn't much like the nightmares he'd come to know over the last year and a half. A strange feeling on the palms of his hands make him pause and he stared at his hands with growing shock.

"What … what the hell – what is this?" Danny says, staring at the far too familiar symbol outlined in glowing green ectoplasm on his palms; a gear with the overlapping initials 'C' and 'W' within it.

"Clockwork's symbol?" he muttered to himself, shaking his hands a little as the glowing mark would fall off his skin. "What's going on?"

Something – or someone – grabbed the back of Danny's shirt. Suddenly, Danny feels hands grasping at him from all around, their appearances similar to human limbs at first glance. He felt himself recoil as he got a better look at them. Twisted, rubbery in shape, and the skin death-dry and ashen in color. Each and every single one of them were reaching for the ghost boy.

And then the bodies came into view.

They were vaguely human in appearance. All had the same, papery, corpse-like look as their arms. They had no joints and their heads were little more than lumps that sat on the rest of their bodies. What would be called faces were flat and blank, with black eyes that glinted with something Danny didn't want to figure out. The creatures, for lack of a better word, reached forward, each straining to get a hold of Danny, all of the howling as on in rasping, accusatory voices.

"**LOOK WHAT YOU DID!**"

Danny feels himself go momentarily mute as many of the hands manage to get a hold on his shoulders, arm, and legs and begin to pull downward, attempting to drag Danny down. Their murmuring voices muttered around him. One grew louder than the others, saying hateful things that Danny didn't want to hear.

"**It's all your fault …**"

The others immediately picked up the chant as even more of the monsters surged forward to catch hold of their prey. Danny managed to find his voice and yelled as he yanked his arms away from the creatures, trying to free himself.

"No! Stop it!"

The weight of the combined ghouls was winning and Danny felt them pull him backwards. The ghouls who had yet to grab hold managed to secure grips upon him and continue to tow him down.

"**All your fault, all your fault … All of it … it's all your fault …**"

"Stop! Leave me alone!" Danny gasped, struggling. He felt like he was drowning. The ghouls, his ears filled with their condemning words.

"**All your fault. All your fault. All your fault! ALL YOUR FAULT!**"

With a last desperate ounce of strength, Danny managed to free one arm and stretched it out toward the non-existent sky, Clockwork's symbol still glowing on his hand. As he felt the monsters' fingers beginning to brush his neck and the side of his face, Danny screamed with all his might to whoever might hear.

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"

_BEEP!_

The ghouls, the glowing mark on Danny's hands, and the dim emptiness vanished as he snapped awake to siren howling in his ear.

"Huh?" He looked around only to find Jazz crouched next to him with the Fenton Air Horn in hand. Danny blinked in confusion at the pale blue light coming through his window. He'd been asleep for a few hors if the darkness outside was any clue.

"Danny, you need to talk about what's going on." Jazz's voice brings his focus back to his sister. She's staring at him in a way that makes him cringe, despite the worried look she was giving him that would've normally made him feel guilty. He had the distinct feeling he was going to have a talk to some extent.

"No more keeping things to yourself." Jazz walked out of the room to the kitchen, leaving Danny to follow her mutely.

So Danny spilled. Not everything, but enough.

"Nightmares?" Jazz looked at the black-haired teen slumped at the kitchen table next to her. "That's what's been bothering you?"

Danny decided to keep his eyes riveted to the tabletop. "Yeah," he mutters. "That's it."

He decided not to mention what the dreams were about.

Jazz lifted the coffee mug in her hand and swirled the coffee a little, a small frown on her face as she thought about the new information. "Makes sense," she says to herself. "The exhaustion, the grouchiness, the slipping grades … Let's see. Nightmares. Well …" She gave a frustrated sigh. "Well, to be honest, there's not a whole lot available about treating nightmares. I mean, if you already know the dream isn't real …"

Danny said nothing.

"Sp," Jazz continued, looking thoughtfully up at the ceiling, "maybe try reading something that'll occupy your thoughts before you go to bed. Try not to watch that many violent TV shows or video games. Or, if it gets worse," she looked off to the side, knowing how Danny would reacted to her next words, "the best thing to do would be to see a therapist."

Danny's previously blank expression morphs into a scowl. He is still smarting from his experiences with Spectra, even after almost a year and a half.

Jazz groaned as Danny glared at her. "Ok, ok. I know that look. But if it gets worse, we gotta consider it! Anyway, I'm not an expert on this particular subject-"

"For once," Danny interrupted, voice oozing with sarcasm.

"Yeah, yeah. Like I was saying, my knowledge of how you'd treat a fifteen and a half year old boy for nightmares is limited at best, but …" Jazz's face was all concern in a second. "I need you to promise that if _anything_ gets any worse, you'll come to me and we'll get some real professional help for you. If this gets too serious, it could have some really bad effects on you. You got it, Danny?"

Jazz leaned forward some, making sure her brother was looking her in the eyes.

"Promise me you won't just try to fix yourself. Please?"

Danny stared evenly at her for a few moments, face totally neutral, before answering her. "Yeah, Jazz. I promise."

For just a split second, when he answered her, Danny looked older beyond his years. Not as if he were a young adult, but instead, an old man, weighed down by the years of a tough life. Jazz pushes the thought aside, relieved that her brother trusted her so.

"Thank you, little brother," she says quietly as she hugs him.

Danny just held still, staring over his sister's shoulder at the kitchen wall. There was a squirming, unpleasant feeling in his stomach.

If there was on talent he'd learned from ghost hunting …

Danny closed his eyes as the sensation in his stomach faded. The feeling had been guilt.

… it was how to be convincing liar.

Later.

The roar echoed about the alley, as the light from the capture beam cast an eerie luminescence on the dumpster and a few trashcans. The ghost howled as the Fenton Thermos sucked it in. its groan trailed off as it became fully confined within the metal cylinder. Danny grinned as he capped the thermos.

"Buh-bye, Gruesome!"

He smiled smugly as he began to walk down the alley, tossing the Fenton Thermos gently in his left hand as he walked.

"Man, ghosts recently, it's like beating them just keeps getting easier and easi-"

Danny's foot started to tingle, something more than just pins and needles, and a single glowing green spark of energy buzzed off it.

Something seemed to break within him and suddenly Danny's sight was tinted an acidic glowing green. Ectoplasmic energy seemed to explode from within him and surround him in a pillar of glowing light, flickering like a flame. Electricity crackled about him and a pressure seemed to grow in his chest and stomach. It didn't hurt though. It was as if he had been super charged, as if though a massive rush of energy had filled him. The only similar thing he could think of was when he was first granted - cursed? - with his ghost powers, but with none of the pain of the electrical shock.

Danny gasped, as the surge seemed to grow, hugging his arms to his chest. Something new was happening now. The edges of his body seemed to waver, the ectoplasm that formed his ghost self seemed to shift and break away and reform to his body, causing his very shape to begin to alter. Danny stumbled forward before falling to his knees as the power rush continued to increase.

As suddenly as it had come, it stopped. The energy suddenly ceased billowing around him and seemed to be sucked back into his body, his shape re-solidifying itself. Danny blinked and sat up. The feeling of pressure was still present, but lessened considerably so that it became barely noticeable. But it was definitely still there.

A pang of fear went through his mind. He sat for a few moments, mind blank. He felt something cold against his knee and glanced down. The Fenton Thermos has rolled next to him. He hadn't even realized he had dropped it when whatever happened … had happened.

That was right. He needed to return the ghosts he had caught that night to the Ghost Zone.

He didn't know what had happened …

Danny picked up the Fenton Thermos and floated into the air, his legs fading into a ghostly tail. He turned away from the alley where nothing had happened, nothing of importance, nothing he needed to worry about.

… So he just pretended it hadn't happened.

He paused midair. The pressure in his chest was still there, nagging at him. He glanced back slightly. But he just couldn't shake the feeling. The feeling that something was going to happen. Soon.

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

Danny's eyes widened as the images that flashed before his brain lost their lucidity and became meaningless snippets of memory, each gone as soon as the next.

Valerie turned to smile at him with amusement, picking a tulip from a bin next to some sunflower …

Go away.

A glowing orb of green and white cast an eerie light on the old-as-time-ghost, his cloak billowing behind him as he turned away …

Go away.

A ring glowing between his fingers as he lifted it from the spot where it had fallen, unnoticed by all but him …

Go away.

A red haired girl crying, desperate, anguished, angry …

Go away.

Two Observants standing shoulder to shoulder, staring at him condemningly, accusing him, always accusing him …

Go away.

Sam reaching for him, hand outstretched, trying to save him. Save him from what?

Go away.

Nausea filling his chest as a chill spread from a point right next to his heart, creeping through his veins and a blackness filling him as his vision turned to black and white lines, the green of his eyes swallowed by black …

Go away. Go away! GO AWAY!

"Ah," Danny sighed as the images finally faded altogether, returning him to his reality, his nice, padded, ghost-proof cell. He leaned against the side wall and was silent for a moment. The feelings of shame and terror that always accompanied his memories began to creep into the back of has mind. Really, it was kind of funny how depressing his past was.

"Heh," Danny chuckled under his breath. Pathetic really. Hilariously pathetic.

"Heh. Heheh. Hah! Hahaha! Hehe. Oh man! Heh." Danny's quiet snickering turned itself into a full-fledged laugh, making him almost fall over, his sides hurting. He quieted after a moment, his fear subsiding. Some part of his broken mind noticed that he only laughed when things began to really upset him. Sometimes he would collapse into hysteria from his own distress and sometimes he would laugh and laugh until it was gone.

_I just couldn't shake the feeling. Something was going to happen._ Danny grinned sadly. "I hate being right about stuff like that." _My most despised hallucinations are those replaying fragments of my memories. _

Danny looked off at nothing without turning his head. His eyes were unfocused, had been unfocused almost the entire time he had been hallucinating. It was then that he had just recalled something. A final image was appearing on the other side of the room.

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

His younger sixteen-year-old self returned home, safe and apparently in one piece after he'd first felt his power explode around him. He laid in his bed, his hand held up to his face. He stared at it, examining it for anything odd.

It was right after that first power surge that he became entirely unable to sleep.

The young boy stared for what might have been minutes, maybe hours, maybe seconds. Then he placed his hand down on the bed and stared at something only he could see, eyes confused and stricken.

Unable to sleep. Even when he wanted to.

Danny closed his eyes and felt the tangible exhaustion in his body, an exhaustion that had become a hum in the back of his mind. And he also felt that old nausea and pressure in his chest, a constant reminder of something he shouldn't have done.

_.::~\/~::._.::~\/~::._.::~\/~::._

**Excited beyond belief to finally finish! The chapter I meant. I'm only done with this chapter. There is still a LONG way to go ... *sigh* Back to work. My poor fingers ...**


	4. Sad Exchange

Disclaimer: This story line isn't even mine, let alone the characters.

A/N: I am … more than ashamed to say it's taken me so long to post this chapter. However, now that everything in my life has been sorted and gotten back to normal, I shall definitely be able to continue without much interruption. For those of you still hanging on, thank you for your loyalty and your patience. I'm so sorry for making you wait so long for this chapter. And now, without further ado, _Asylum_!

Why was someone singing?

"_In twenty-four hours, they'll be laying flowers on my life."_

Oh yeah. Her ringtone. Her cell phone was ringing. The phone continued to play the _24_ by Jem while Valerie mumbled and felt around on her bedside table for the device. After a few attempts, she managed to find her phone despite the lack of light.

"'Lo?" Valerie mumbled groggily, hoping to just fall back asleep. However, as soon as the person on the other line spoke, Valerie bolted upright and abandoned all hope of sleep for that night.

"_What_?" Valerie practically shrieked. "Wait a sec- but n-now? It's like …" Valerie blinked, realizing she didn't actually know what time it was. She glanced at the clock. It was so late, it was getting in the realm of early. 4:15. Her eye twitched a little as she stared at it. "You've _got_ to be kidding me." The phone vibrated in her hand a little, reminding her that the line was still connected. "Yes, I'm still here, sir," she said swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "Ok, I'll meet you there in half an hour."

She hung up her phone and stood, looking out over the apartment at the plasma screen TV on the wall opposite her bed; the few shelves that overflowed with spare parts for her weapons, the tools to fix them, and the manuals; the computer she had left on last night, too tired to even turn it off; the wall of ghost hunting equipment such as uniforms, guns, and one of the newest models of her hoverboards, some of which spilled onto the floor; and on the last wall, articles cut and pinned haphazardly to the wall, all of or relating to ghosts.

Valerie's eyes rested on the largest article of all, seemingly dominating the rest of the articles in the middle of the chaos. The headline read in the bold letters of that font every newspaper favored, "PHANTOM FINALLY CAUGHT." The picture underneath showed only a glimpse of the ghost the last time he was seen in public, too surrounded by GIW to be properly seen.

It had been the last headline Phantom had made in the last eleven years.

Kwan stared at his laptop screen, too exhausted to fully process what he was reading, still too shocked to what the data implicated to go to sleep. He yawned loudly as he closed his laptop and stood to stretch, thinking it ridiculous that he was being called out at four in the morning to a back door of the GIW facility that was normally only used by employees when delivering new captive ghosts for study. Even if Valerie had called ahead specifically to ask for this favor. Even if she was the main representative for the Ghost Hunter Division of Masters Co.

As Kwan entered to hallway, he noticed the two agents who had come with Supervisor Marshall to retrieve him were still at the posts they had taken up as Marshall had entered the lab to inform him of Valerie's request and of Kwan's part in it.

"It's, uh, kinda late, isn't it?" Kwan muttered to them, hoping for some sort of response.

"And yet, I found you in a computer lab, wide awake." Kwan glanced down the hall where Supervisor Marshall was coming from. "Just what were you looking at that could be so interesting?" Although Marshall's tone was indifferent, Kwan swallowed guiltily, feeling like he was under interrogation. He was almost positive the intimidating man was staring at him, despite the dark sunglasses he always wore. Kwan wondered if Marshall ever took them off before realizing that he still hadn't answered and looked away.

"Well-"

"They've arrived, sir. We're opening the door." Kwan was saved by one of the two agents standing on the other side of the hallway with Marshall. And none too soon either. Kwan didn't know what exactly he would've told the supervisor.

All in the hallway turned toward the almost gate-like double doors that stretched from floor to ceiling. The complex security locks and bolts spun with a whir as one of the doors started to open. Valerie stepped inside and was immediately greeted by Supervisor Marshall.

"Ms. Grey," he began, irritation becoming obvious at the inconvenience. "Now that you're here, may I ask the reason for insisting on using this particular door instead of the front door? And at four in the morning?"

"Well, it wasn't my plan," Valerie said gesturing to the other side of the still opening doors.

"You know how it is, Supervisor Marshall," said the man Valerie had gestured to as he entered the building. The man was in his mid-fifties, his hair and goatee already mostly white. His long hair was pulled into a ponytail, which gave him a rather distinguished look. Although the entirely black Armani suit and matching cane and hat didn't exactly subtract from the look either. Vladimir Masters grinned a little at the apparent surprise his presence had created in the GIW agents and the scientist. He was always one for a dramatic entrance, and he didn't disappoint this time. "A man like me has enemies after all."

The last several years had taken their toll on Vlad. There were age lines around his eyes and mouth, and he leaned heavily on the black wooden cane in his right hand. He walked forward into the building with a noticeable limp, favoring the left leg.

"I'd like to thank you for allowing us to use your, ah, 'side door,'" Vlad said smoothly as he walked up to Marshall.

"You're welcome, Mr. Masters," Marshall said, shaking Vlad's hand. "I have been told you wish to speak with one of our scientists about something."

Vlad smiled, or as close to one as he could. "Well, thanks to Ms. Grey here," he said, causing Valerie to straighten a little more, despite still scowling and keeping her arms crossed, "it has come to my attention that there is indeed something I would like to understand. However, this is a private matter that I would like to discuss with you, Marshall, and you alone."

"Of course, Mr. Masters. Please, follow me." Marshall looked Vlad up and down once, before leading him down the hallway.

Valerie's scowl deepened considerably the moment they were out of sight. She put her hands on her hips, and glared down the hall for a bit before asking, "So what, we're just supposed to wait here picking our noses or something?"

Kwan grimaced, hating to be the bearer of bad news. "I guess so."

The two stood in silence for a moment, before Valerie noticed the two GIW agents who had also been left standing in the hallway. They were standing at attention, arms folded behind their backs with emotionless looks on their faces. They reminded Valerie of the Buckingham Palace guards. It struck her as to what had been bothering her so much about them. She poked Kwan's shoulder to his attention.

"Hey. Kwan."

"What?" he said as he turned to look at her.

"What's up with them? They're nothing like the GIW agents that always came to Amity Park," Valerie said.

An idea formed in Kwan's mind. Valerie didn't really know anything about the GIW. So maybe if he filled her in, she'd be appreciative. Appreciative enough to say yes if he asker out to lunch (or breakfast rather, considering it was barely 5 in the morning now).

Ok, so it was stupid, but it was all he had at the moment.

"Wanna wait in the computer lab while we talk? I think it'll be a while and it's not that far," Kwan said. At the very least they could be slightly more comfortable.

"Sure. Got any coffee?" Valerie asked, finally getting over being left in the hallway like an unwanted dog and following Kwan just a few feet down the hall. She didn't think she'd get so lucky so but it was worth a shot.

"Not any easily accessible. We'll probably have to wait until Supervisor Marshall and Masters come back." Kwan wouldn't have minded some coffee either but he didn't know how long the two would take and just what exactly they should be doing at the moment.

"Of course not," she sighed. "Continue."

"See, there's a ranking system in the GIW, and at the top is Central Command, located in D.C. They're mostly just there to look impressive and important. Right under them are the supervisors, like Supervisor Marshall. The supervisors pretty much run the GIW. They're as high ranking as you get short of being in Central but no one actually wants to be one because you get tons of paperwork and it's mostly a desk job. There's not really much excitement there or anything. I'm not sure if their names are codenames or not though.

Below the supervisors are the operatives, who have letter based codenames, like Operative K or L. They're real arrogant, don't pay any attention to the rules or protocol and pretty much just do as they please. They also do the majority of the fieldwork, unfortunately. Most of the GIW that came to Amity Park were those guys.

Then there are the agents, who have codenames with both letters and numbers depending on their rank within the agents, starting with A1, then B1, and so on and so forth through the number 30 … or something like that. They're pretty professional acting because it raises their chances of being promoted. And they're just better trained than the operatives really. Kind of sad seeing as they rank lower. They don't do much fieldwork other than cleaning up the operatives' messes. Almost all the guys at this facility are agents.

After that are the troopers, the guys who look like the clones from _Star Wars_. Basically, they're foot soldiers, used for large-scale assaults and things of the nature. But they also do the most menial tasks when not in battle. They do a lot of guard duty. And to be honest, you don't want to spend too long at this level because this rank has the highest mortality rates. That's mostly because the troopers kinda just get tossed into random combat an awful lot."

At this point, Valerie was looking a bit as if she wished she'd never asked. Her left eye was twitching a little as Kwan finish his monologue.

"And that's it. Although that's not including the scientists, engineers, and janitors who exist outside the basic ranks."

There was a rather long pause after Kwan stopped talking as Valerie stared at him. After a moment she slapped her hand against her face. "Well, I could've lived without knowing just how irresponsible government agencies could be. Thanks a lot."

Kwan shrugged apologetically.

"So if I understand what you just said, you are asking me for direct access to Phantom's cell? Without any agents coming with you?" Marshall peered across his desk at Vlad, who was sitting relaxed in his own chair, cane balanced against one of the arms.

"Yes, you heard me correctly," Vlad said calmly. Marshall was silent for a moment before standing up and turning to look at a spot on the wall behind him. "Well?" he asked after several moments of no answer. There was no doubt in his voice what the answer would be. After all, he always got what he wanted.

"Your request is denied."

To say that Vlad's expression was shocked would be the equivalent to saying that Mt. Everest was a big hill.

"And why exactly not?" It took every ounce of Vlad's self control to not strangle the infuriating man standing before him. The poor chair that he was sitting in took the brunt force of his anger instead.

Supervisor Marshall turned around to face him. "Mr. Masters, do you really believe I would allow a civilian, even one - no _especially_ a civilian of your status to enter the cell of one of our most powerful captured ghosts?" Marshall asked calmly.

"B-but Ms. Grey was-"

"Ms. Grey is a licensed hunter, not a civilian. Ms. Grey was armed and more than capable of defending herself if the need arose. With no intended disrespect, you are almost fifty-seven years old."

Vlad's anger was increasing with each word Marshall spoke, and for a ghost hybrid, that anger was dangerous. The armrests of the chair Vlad sat in were quietly cracking and crumbling in Vlad's grip as his paranormal strength began to seep into his human form. Marshall was completely ignorant to this and simply continued his speech.

"If you wee to be injured, it would both create issues with the committee in charge of regulations involving our handling of dangerous captured ghost specimens as well as drastically jeopardize our public image. My apologies, Mr. Masters, but your trip here was pointless if this was your sole reason for coming."

It took everything that Vlad Masters was to keep reign in all his ghost powers.

A few moments passed in which neither one of the powerful men in the room spoke. Unnerved by Vlad's lack of response, Marshall fidgeted in his chair and asked his question again. "Mr. Masters? Is that all or did you have other reasons for coming?"

The door slammed open and a trooper all but ran into the room. "Sir, my scanner was detecting escalating levels of ectoenergy! Is everything okay?"

Vlad flinched visibly and ducked his head so the brim of his hat hid his slightly glowing eyes, which he had been able to control up until the trooper distracted him, while he attempted to control his emotions. Marshall looked furiously at the trooper and slammed his hand on his desk.

"What do you think you're doing? Do you see a ghost in here? Huh?" the GIW supervisor yelled at the now rather flustered trooper. "Even if there was a ghost, I think I would be able to handle it! And I'm in a meeting! Weren't you trained? Don't barge into my office like that again!"

the trooper backed up, helmeted head bowed in apology. "Y-yes sir!" he stuttered. "Forgive me, Supervisor Marshall!"

Marshall stood back and continued to glare through his sunglasses at the trooper.

"Right. Now, Mr. Masters …"

Vlad relaxed his grip on the armrests, tiny pieces crumbling off as he unclenched his fingers from where they had been digging into the plastic and wood. He slouched back into the chair with a look of defeat on his face. "I-I understand. You're right. It would have been irresponsible for to … yes, I see …" He picked up his cane and pulled himself slowly from the chair. "I'm quite sorry for the trouble," he muttered.

"Not an issue, Mr. Masters," Marshall said reassuringly, placing a hand on Vlad's shoulder to help support him as he limped towards the door. The trooper standing there at attention trembled a little as Marshall turned to face him. "And _you_. Report to me later. We need to discuss your discipline," Marshall growled.

"Right, sir. I'll remember, sir," the trooper said shakily, saluting Marshall as the man walked past him.

While the supervisor was speaking to the trooper, Vlad discreetly pressed a button hidden on his cane, hoping Marshall's scolding would cover up the click of the button, before following him down the hallway. Behind them, the trooper that had interrupted their meeting watched them as they walked back toward where they came from, crimson eyes glinting behind the yellowy glass of his goggles.

Vlad waited patiently while Marshall pressed the down button for the elevator, all the offices being located on the third floor. The two men stood in silence for a few moments as they waited for the elevator to arrive before Marshall spoke suddenly. "There is something I should bring up."

Vlad blinked and turned to look at the supervisor, who was now giving the billionaire a look that was just short of a glare.

"I do hope you realize," Marshall continues on crisply, "that if for some reason, a major contributor cut our funding for … selfish causes, well … The GIW _is_ a government agency, after all, and if you, Mayor Vladimir, make things difficult for us, then we might make life _very_ difficult for you as well."

The elevator chose that very appropriate time to arrive, and the doors slid open.

"Do you understand what I've been saying?" Marshall said as the two men boarded the elevator, his veiled threat hanging in the air.

"Of course," Vlad said, taking off and examining his hat with exaggerated calmness. "You really shouldn't worry." He set the fedora back on his head with a mildly sardonic grin and said with insincere compliance, "After all, I would never do such a thing simply as an act of petty vengeance."

"I am very glad to hear that," Marshall said almost hesitantly after a few seconds.

The button on the underside of Vlad's cane glowed a pale blue, just dim enough so it wouldn't be noticed by anyone who wasn't looking for it.

Floating high about the facility run by the GIW, Skulker watched as the readout on his forearm gauntlet began to beep in accordance to the signal being broadcasted from inside the building. Letters and numbers began scrolling across the screen, unable to be decoded to anyone but the ghost currently reading them.

"He wasn't allowed to get in," Skulker's deep synthesized voice was matter of fact. Little had changed about the ghost over the last eleven years. He had traded his jet pack and wings for a hover pack and there was more artillery and armor attached to his ecto-skeleton than ever, and his flaming hair was now in a ponytail instead of just being left loose.

A few ghostly vultures flew by, circling around Skulker, eyes narrowed at both his statement and the glare of the rising sun, which had just begun to creep above the horizon.

"I don't get it," one vulture said crossly, floating near to Skulker's ear. "Vhy doesn't Master Plasmius jus' use a jammer to block those guys' ghost scanners like you do? An' then overshadow tha man?"

Skulker rolled his eyes and glared over his shoulder at the vultures. "A) The jammers only work at longer distances, B) all GIW have deflectors to prevent them being overshadowed, and C) that supervisor _might_ notice when his subordinates tell him that he let Plasmius into the cell and has no memory of it," Skulker said flatly, clearly irritated for having to explain such simple and obvious matters to the vultures.

The vultures responded by scowling at Skulker's patronizing tone, despite their beaks. "Vell, you don't need to get snappy about it!" one protested. Skulker could never tell them apart.

"It vas jus' some harmless curiosity!" another agreed.

"Oh just go to your positions! You know what to do!" Skulker yelled, pointing randomly towards the air surrounding the facility. The vultures gave a few 'hmphs' at the indignity of being bossed by such a rude youngster and flew off. Skulker just shook his head and watched them go.

"Ahem!"

Skulker blinked and turned to face the other ghost who had been hovering with them while they waited for Vlad's signal. A slightly vicious grin spread across Skulker's face a he remembered the rest of the plan. "Ah, yes. I almost forgot."

The Dragon Prince Aragon grimaced, hand gripping the amulet hanging around his neck. He had gone through a lot of trouble stealing it back from his upstart sister. She had guarded it carefully, but Plasmius's services had returned his precious amulet to him, along with some _very_ interesting information.

"This is where it's being kept? _This _place?" Aragon practically spat with obvious disdain.

Skulker shrugged. "Yes, in a manner of speaking. However," he smirked again, "to be perfectly accurate, it would be best to say the 'person' who has it is kept here. So are you going to get it or what, your highness?" Skulker mock bowed.

Aragon's hand shot up and grabbed Skulker by the neck and yanked the larger ghost closer so they were face to face. "Remember this," Aragon snarled. "If Plasmius had lied and I have left my domain for no reason, I will have _both_ your heads!"

"I'll be sure to let him know," Skulker said dryly, clearly not impressed with Aragon's little show of power. Seriously, decapitation? That was all the spoiled lizard could come up with in several centuries? It wasn't as though it would truly make a difference if his suit had a head or not.

Aragon sneered at the arrogance of the mechanical ape before him. Instead, he chose to focus on the task at hand. The amulet around his neck began glowing a sickly green and the Ghost Dragon Prince began to transform. His face stretched into a snout and spiked and horns began sprouting from his head and sided of his face. Scales rippled into form across his body. Claws grew on his hands and feet as they lengthened. His ragged cloak turned into a pair of powerful leathery wings. The entire thing only took several seconds, and where once floated a prince was now a fearsome dragon. He was easily over thirty feet long, covered in purple scales so dark they were almost black. Giving Skulker a rather toothy smile, the Dragon Prince assumed his battle form.

"See that you do tell Plasmius," Aragon's voice rumbled

Human-built defenses were so pathetic.


	5. Author's Note

Dear Readers,

For those of you who have hung on thus far, your loyalty means so much to me. I appreciate the fact that you had enough faith in me to keep me and this story in your Update Alerts. It's been a long and ardurous journey, and it's not over yet. While I have been more than slightly infrequent at updating, it's only going to get better. Lemme explain. For the past ... I don't know how long I've had to travel in and out of the country for months at a time for personal reasons I'd rather not disclose here. However, I am here to tell you that I officially do not have to do such things anymore and will be able to update at LEAST twice a month. If school/work/life permits, I will do my best to update even more than that. This will become my project, and my only project.

For those of you who have just joined me, thank you for giving this story a chance. I didn't think it'd get much attention when I first started this, and I am convinced that it is all due to the genius that is A Musing Cat, who let me take over her work. Thank you so much.

Once again, I appreciate all of you who are willing to give me another chance. Now on with the writing!

Your faithful writer,

thE eKLeKtiK avrge JoE


	6. Prey

A/N: CHAPTER TIIIIME! Yay updates! So it's a bit late but that was a computer problem. So glad this week is over tho. I was worried about getting this chapter up for you guys, and then my car broke, found out it wasn't fixable, had to buy a new one, had to take _that _car to the mechanics several times to get kinks worked out, moved, gave up my dog, and everything else that could possibly go wrong did.

But I have a car, am all settled in, and found a good home for my dog. AND FINISHED THE CHAPTER! Lol. That's the one I was really looking forward too. I was planning on posting this on Halloween but life caught up with me. Oh well. It's finished! Time to start the next one …

And now on with the story!

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine …

"C'mon, you've got to admit that's kind of strange, to be so resistant to treatment," Kwan said. "I mean, if the surgery would fix Mr. Master's leg …"

"I know, I know." Valerie leaned back against the wall, a frown on her face. "I asked him about it once, but he seemed really against the idea of even going near a doctor's office." She turned her head to look of blankly for a moment. After about fourteen years of working for the man, Valerie knew he could have his eccentric moments, and that was only to be expected, but his blatant refusal to allow his old injury to be repaired just didn't make any sense. "I know he didn't do a whole lot of outright ghost hunting himself," Valerie finally said, turning to look at Kwan again, "but it still just confuses me that he-"

Her words were interrupted by a loud booming noise. Valerie, Kwan, and the two agents who had followed them to the computer room "for your own safety," as they put it, all stared down the hallway that they had all come from for a moment without saying a word. Valerie was the one to finally break the silence.

"What was that?"

Her words broke the sudden stupor they had all fallen under. One of agents pulled a communicator out and turned it on anxiously as a second explosion echoed down the hall.

"This is Agent 22B at Corridor Five, Operative Entranceway. We just heard a loud unidentified noise. Has anyone reported the cause?"

The booming suddenly began to sound repeatedly, the noise traveling all over the facility, seemingly coming from everywhere at the same time. Scientists and agents intent in their research looked up distractedly. Elsewhere, Supervisor Marshall and Vlad both turned to look towards the direction the noise seemed to come. In a corridor closest to the rumbling, a pair of troopers looked about nervously, one holding the ecto-blaster he was carrying against his chest in his unease.

All of a sudden, the explosions ceased completely. The two troopers stood quietly for a moment before one turned to stare at the other.

"Hey, did you just-"

The wall behind the two suddenly cracked into a spider web of fissures. The troopers jumped and spun around to stare at the damage.

"Wha-what the hell was that?" one had just enough time to exclaim before the wall practically exploded into a shower of dust and debris. The troopers cover their faces with their arms to protect against the fragments of plaster and metal, despite having on the goggles and helmets. After enough of the dust had settled so that they could see, both troopers looked up. And probably wished they hadn't.

The light of the rising sun facing the hole in the wall turned the giant ebony-scaled dragon sitting there into little more than a massive dark silhouette. Glowing red eyes and smoke slowly drifted up from his nostrils while the light glinted off the spikes covering the beast's face.

The troopers took a few steps back, too terrified to turn and run. Aragon ignored them as he crawled in through the gap in the plaster and metal building, barely managing to fit his body through the hole big enough for an eighteen-wheeler to drive through. One of the troopers suddenly processed just what was happening before him and remembered whom he worked for and brought the ecto-blaster he'd been cradling up as quickly as he could. He never had a chance.

At the sound of the safety, Aragon whipped his giant head around to look at them.

"Stop! Stay where you are!" the armed trooper yelled in an attempt to sound brace, while his partner just collapsed to his knees, his horror at the thought of having to face the giant ghost be before them as good as paralyzing him.

The trooper shot the dragon once or twice before realizing that they had no effect on the dragon and froze, not able to think of another plan of attack. The blasts hit Aragon dead on but his scales just seemed to brush of the energy blasts as if they were no more than pebbles tossed his way. Aragon remained still for a moment, waiting to see what other tricks these lowly peasants would try before deciding to get this over with. Before the trooper could blink, Aragon bared his teeth and sprang up, leaping towards the terrified trooper. The tips of the ghost dragon's wings rushed the ceiling in the enclosed space. He opened his mouth in a roar as he strode towards the GIW soldiers, the one continually firing at the beast. The dragon reached out with one giant clawed hand and swept it towards the trooper, catching the man on his left side, effectively crushing his arm and knocking the ectoblaster from his hands. But rather than simply brushing the trooper aside, Aragon picked him up and calmly slammed him into the ground with a crunching noise.

The second trooper, who hadn't moved during this entire encounter, simply watched as his partner had gotten killed, unable to do anything else.

He gasped quietly, his whimper turning into a full blown scream as Aragon spun to face him now and charged with his mouth open, teeth closing in on the remaining trooper.

"'Stay here, Dr. Li,'" Kwan mocked quietly to himself. "'We'll go check it out, Dr. Li.'" He took a sip from the water cup he was holding, glaring angrily at nothing in particular. Valerie and the two agents had rushed off when the explosions sounded, instructing Kwan to stay where he was and leaving him feeling rather annoyed.

"'You're completely useless fighting ghosts Dr. Li, even if you aced all those physical training tests.' Hmph!" Kwan shook his head and sighed a little. "Three extra years of school for this." Perhaps it was true that if there was going to be a fight with a ghost, Kwan wasn't the most valuable person to have around, but still! It was being bossed around by people who really had no more higher a ranking than himself the bothered him at the end of the day.

The water in the cup Kwan was holding rippled. Kwan blinked and stared at it. Sure he had been up all night, but his hands weren't that shaky-

It was then he noticed the low thumping noise from around a bend in the hall that was beginning to increase in volume. As he watched, a shadow began to appear on the ground directly in front of the turn in the hall. It was not human shaped.

Looking back on the incident, Kwan was surprised at how easily he gave into denial for someone who specialized in psychology, even if it was ecto-psychology, and who worked at MIW. Unfortunately for the doctor, common sense had been on lunch during the whole incident and his brain instead attempted to rationalize the shadow in some way that did not involve a malevolent spirit that could rip hom apart limb by limb.

"It can't be ... " Clearly it was some sort of prank some of the troopers were playing on each other, Kwan thought as he took an involuntary step back. The owner of the shadow began to become visible in the form of rather large clawed toes. "Val and the agents ... they wouldn't have let come this far," he said out loud, as if that would make it true. It was a clearly pointless thing to say, given the rather obvious proof that a ghost ... thing was there. He closed his eyes tightly. Maybe it'd be like the T-Rex in Jurassic park and it couldn't see you if you didn't move.

Except the T-Rex _had_ been able to see people even if they didn't move. Bad comparison.

"I'm perfectly safe," Kwan said softly, trying desperately to convince himself he was hallucinating. "Not in danger at all."

He opened his eyes ... and almost pissed his pants

"Tell me, wretch," the dragon (at least he thought it was a dragon) in front of his face growled, its voice rumbling from somewhere deep in its throat. "Tell me where Phantom is."

A chill shot down Danny's spine and he gasped, exhaling a smoky bluish mist. He lifted his head up and watched the freezing haze now continuously coming from his mouth as it slowly faded.

That was strange. He knew that there were other ghosts kept in this facility but he'd never been able to sense them before now. So why was his ghost sense going off? He continued to shudder slightly from the cold that he knew was actually coming from inside his own body. His ghost sense was going off now, causing a continuous stream of fog to fall from his lips.

Something had changed.

Kwan glanced at the device he was holding in his trembling hand. In many respects it looked like an old-fashioned car key, but what it unlocked, the power that it represented, was so much more important than any car.

_Stupid,_ Kwan thought to himself, clutching the key tighter as he continues to walk down the hall. _How could I be so _stupid. _Why the hell am I doing this?_

What he was doing was … Hell, he could probably be tried for breach of contract, perhaps even some weird form of treason, endangering the public, aid of a wanted person, etc. Why was he doing this?

_Might have something to do with the giant GHOST DRAGON following you right now, threatening to make you join his legions._

"We'd better be getting close to where the Phantom is, mortal."

Yup, that was it. The very big, very angry, very toothy ghost dragon had something to do with it, if one was so inclined to believe his bladder. It took all he had as a man not to piss his pants right now.

" Uh … y-yeah, yes! It's close. J-just down th-this hall," Kwan managed to get out. The ghost dragon crawling (the enclosed hallway was much too small for the mammoth beast) behind him kept it's head hovering over Kwan's left shoulder, so it's teeth were constantly close enough for the terrified scientist to see. It was an effective tactic.

"It had better truly be close because if you are lying …" The dragon broke into an utterly terrifying grin that said it almost hoped Kwan was lying. "Heh heh."

Luckily, the ghost was so distracted with taunting and threatening Kwan that it didn't notice him flick a switch on a device resembling a pager on his belt.

Pieces of plaster and metal were still crumbling from the hole in the wall where Aragon had broken in when Valerie and the two agents found it, along with the body of one of the troopers who had been at the scene. The other trooper was suspiciously missing.

"Oh _hell_! You've _got_ to be joking!"

"Unfortunately not, Ms. Gray," Agent 22B crouched down to examine the remains while Agent 22A and Valerie stood slightly behind him. "It looks like the, uh, time of death was fairly recent."

Valerie just grimaced and closed her eyes as she put a hand over her mouth. Her stomach was doing weird things at the sight of the dead trooper. She'd seen the damage a ghost could do to a human before, certainly, but it was usually from the corner of her eye in the midst of battle. Between the distraction of combat and the fact that she wasn't ever part of the cleanup crews, she'd never really been this close to the carnage.

"It is imperative we find the ghost that did this as soon as possible." Valerie was snapped out of her line of thoughts by Agent Obvious. "If it continues to wander through the facility … "

He didn't need to say more. While everyone realized the seriousness of this matter, he brought up a good point. They needed to get moving. Right then, the watch attached to Agent 22A's hand suddenly began to glow and beep. The GIW agent frowned and pressed a button on the side of the watch's face. The small holoscreen was suddenly projected into the air above the watch face, displaying various information, anything from a map of the facility to what time it was in Switzerland.

"A distress signal has been activated. It's …" Agent 22A frowned at the glowing screen. "It's from Dr. Li."

"_What_?" Valerie practically yelled, shoving the Agent's head aside so she could better see the screen. Unfortunately for the agent, since the watch was on his own arm, this meant that Valerie shoved his head at such an angle that would give the agent a crick in his neck for a while. Agent 22B and Valerie crowded around Agent 22A's arm to peer at the holoscreen projection.

"It says Kwan's at … corridor 77J. Where's that?" Valerie asked.

"That … is a problem," Agent 22B said after a moment.

Valerie scowled at him. "Well, _duh_, it's a problem if-"

"No, you don't understand," Agent 22A interrupted her in order to clarify his partner's meaning. "This is a problem because corridor 77J is where the Phantom's cell is located."

"_Shit_! Why didn't you say that?" Valerie yelled as she turned and ran back down the hallway in the direction from which they'd come, leaving the startled agents behind.

As she ran, she formed an image in her head of a familiar battle suit. The ectoplasm-based nanobots in her system responded almost immediately to her mental command and began to form the battle suit in question. Eerie pink electricity crackled along the edge of the liquid metal flowing smoothly over her limbs, shaping red circuitry under black plating as she ran. Her helmet formed over her head, the final touch to her suit. As the suit completely covered her, her stride became even more purposeful as the targeting system in the faceplate activated itself.

"Whatever this ghost is planning," she growled to herself, voice echoing and slightly metallic within the helmet, even to he own ears, "he won't succeed while I'm here."

That was a promise.

The heavy metal door was covered in locks and complicated electronic bolts, a noticeable contrast to its nearly bare interior. A cover the reinforced window was a metal plate with the number 82678 carved into it, while painted below it in bold black letter was the warning 'NO UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY.' Wires ran from the heavy main bolts and various small locks to a keypad set into the wall besides the door.

It was meant to be secure as possible. Unless you knew how to open it without force.

"This is the place?" Aragon growled, bending slightly to look at Kwan. Kwan turned his face away in both fear and self-anger for his submitting to his ghost's demands. He hated that he was doing this but he didn't have much choice.

"Yes," Kwan muttered after a moment.

Aragon leaned down even more so, his teeth practically brushed the back of Kwan's head.

"Open it or I'll rip your head from your shoulders."

Without a word, Kwan fitted the key he'd been holding into a slot near the bottom of the keypad with a click. The keypad beeped for a few moments before the words "SECURITY OVERRIDE ACCEPTED" appeared on the mini-screen at the top. There was a hissing noise as the hydraulics within the door were released and pressurized steam billowed out from inside the door on both sides.

A mildly startled Danny Phantom blinked silently at the door, mist still billowing from his mouth occasionally as the door swung open with a creaking noise. As the door slowed to a stop, light from the hall illuminated the front half of the cell in sharp contrast to the near twilight that the room had been kept in constantly. It was much, much brighter than anything Danny had seen in the last eleven years, and he was hit full on by the light.

"AAAAHHH!" the white-haired ghost screamed and fell to his knees at the pain now shooting through his eyeballs and head. He kneeled with his head almost touching the ground, trying to shake off the agonizing pain. It was reminiscent of the times when Danny was a child and had gotten up in the pitch black of the night to go to the bathroom, only to be blinded by the fluorescent lights there. Excepts this was a thousand times more powerful.

"My eyes …" he shook his head again. "Uh … I can't see anything."

A few moments passed before Danny even attempted to open his throbbing eyes just ever so slightly, glancing over his shoulder towards the door. Although his ghostly eyes were adjusting inhumanly fast to the change in brightness, he still couldn't make out anything more than vague blurs. He frowned slightly, still squinting into the light, as he stood up on shaking legs.

_Who … ?_ All he could see was that there was a substantially smaller blob that kind of looked like a person and a rather larger blob he couldn't identify in any way. _I can't tell …_

As he looked on, trying to make out the figures, his vision cleared slightly so that he could see the massive clawed hand just as it reached through the door towards him. He barely had time to for m a shocked expression before said hand grabbed him roughly and slammed him to the ground with a frightening amount of force.

Danny gasped as the wind was knocked out of him. Some back part of his brain observed that had he been human at the moment, the impact probably would have crushed him, but his ghost form was made of stronger stuff. Danny choked a little as another trail of icy mist escaped his mouth just then and lifted his head the best he could to stare up at the being currently holding him down.

"Uh … What … ?" Danny blinked at the sight of a massive ebony scaled dragon bending the metal of the doorway with ease to make it large enough to enter. "Dragon? … Aragon?"

Kwan, who had been knocked to the side slightly by Aragon's lunge through the door, looked up suddenly. Out of the blue, a memory of something he'd heard about ran through his mind and he gasped, realizing he had to stop the ghost dragon from harming the Phantom too badly.

"W-wait! Stop! Don't-" Kwan's warning was cut short as a scaly tail slammed into his chest at a high speed, knocking him clear across the hall into the opposite wall.

"_Insignificant little peasant!_" Aragon roared. "_How __**dare**__ you give me an order!_"

Kwan's head had hit sharply against the wall with a slight cracking noise, and he slide down to the ground, his sight blurring and something warm and sticky running down the side of his face from the throbbing injury of his head.

Blood, his mind told him briefly before his head slumped and the world went black.

A/N: What do you think? Worth the wait? I just have to say. Thank you guys so much for all the waiting you've done. And the reviews! I don't think I've blushed so much. :]

Thank you all who have reviewed in previous chapters: Héracélio, dp, Miriam1, Half-Ghost, Hyperpagasi, MusicIsMyMorphine, L, starr1095, iliketacosxgirfan, FlameToungue, Super Sister, hypercel, RozaHoathoway, Dark knightress, EdwardCullenissexy15 (I agree with your name :D), Antheiena, love-toushi, Mary Blondine, Vi-Violence, Dannyandsamlover, and Super Sister.

Vi-Violence – I'm glad and thank you for the review!

Amazing Bluie – Aw thank you! I'm glad to hear it and excited to hear what you think of my skills.

Hraclio – Thank you for all your wonderful comments. That's why I wanted to tell you guys. I'm trying. Hope you like the new chapter. :]

Codiak – Thank you!

Biisaiyowaq – Well, hopefully nothing big will get in my way from here on out.


	7. Tounge Tied

**Disclaimer: Danny Phantom and even the original storyline does not belong to me.**

Aragon sniffed in disdain at Kwan's unconscious form before turning to face Danny, who was still pinned beneath his claws.

"Now," Aragon growled, "you have something that doesn't belong to you." The dragon began to press down on Danny's chest to make his point with his next words. "If it is not to be in its owner's hands, then it should be _mine!_"

Danny started gagging with the sudden pressure to his chest, before closing his eyes and gritting his teeth against the pain.

"What …" he gasped, trying to summon enough breath to finish his question. "What … are you … talking about? I don't …" Danny stopped speaking for a moment as his ghost sense again flowed out of his mouth before regaining his breath somewhat. "I don't … understand," he finally finished.

_**Oh? Is that so?**_

Danny's eyes widened in shock. That voice was not Aragon's. The one that had just spoken, it sounded like … His thought was cut off as Danny realized what he was looking at. Instead of Aragon's massive claws crushing his chest, he saw a rather blurry, humanoid shape, skeletally thin and dressed in dark grey armor and leather crouching over his chest. A hand with what resembled blades for fingers as pressed against his throat. This figure. If Danny had been able to sleep at all over the last eleven years, this would have been the one to haunt his nightmares. This was the being who had … who had …

Danny felt the terror brought on by his hallucinations begin to build up in his chest, triggered by old painful memories. This being, this _thing_, was not something he wanted to remember. He didn't want to think about it. See it.

_No! Don't make me see it! Don't let me remember what happened!_

_**Well, half-dead one**_, the figure spoke in a disturbingly smooth, rich voice that contrasted with its appearance. _**I don't think you're telling the truth. LIAR!**_

The bladed fingers, for lack of a better word, tightened around his neck, and Danny lost his ability to distinguish the hallucination from reality. The scream that had been forming in his throat ripped itself free.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Aragon blinked at the half-ghost's sudden hysteria. He'd barely crushed the hybrid at all, yet he was already screaming as if in agony. Aragon's confusion vanished however, and the dragon let a toothy smile roll over his face.

"Such a weakling. Ha!" the dragon prince snickered. He bent closer to the struggling hybrid, who turned his head away as much as he could.

"NO! I-I didn't- No! NO! Stay away from me!" Danny yelled, trying in vain to get away. Aragon's sadistic grin just grew wider.

"Your screams are pointless, Half-Ghost. Begging will do you no good-"

Aragon's sentence was cut short due to Danny's foot meeting his jaw in a very unexpected kick.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Danny cried out again.

Aragon roared in anger and pain, releasing Danny as he reared back. The ghost dragon stumbled back a bit on his hind feet and clutched at his bruised snout.

"By-by node! You liddle-" It was almost comedic how much Aragon suddenly sounded like he had a cold.

Danny rolled over and managed to get to his knees, gasping from both fear and lack of air. His face contorted into an expression somewhere between horror and confusion and he lifted his head to stare at the ceiling. Another wisp of his ghost sense drifted out of his mouth. "B-but I saw … It was just Aragon?"

_I thought I saw … I thought he was … But it wasn't._

Danny suddenly realized that there was a patch of light unblocked by Aragon's bulk in the doorway. He looked up and saw a space in the door that he _just_ might fit through, provided he was willing to jump over the dragon's tail. It was a crazy idea. But then again, so was he.

Danny quickly got to his feet and dashed towards the door, hopping over Aragon's tail as he carefully as one could with their arms out of commission. His foot still brushed against the scales ever so slightly, causing Aragon to instantly raise his head in surprise. Danny landed gently right outside the door to his cell. As he stood up, he noticed Kwan laying slumped against the wall, blood dripping down his face.

_Is that Kwan?_ Danny thought, a pang of uneasiness forming in his chest from what was left of his old hero complex. Before he could do anything more, Aragon roared in anger.

"Oh no, don't you dare to think that you might get away from _me_!" the ghost dragon yelled, while attempting to turn himself around in the restricted space of the cell.

"Uh oh," Danny gulped and decided to worry about Kwan later. He spun on his feet and ran as fast as he could down the hall just as Aragon crashed through the already torn and misshapen doorway.

"You little thief! I'll burn you to _ashes_!" he snarled, throwing back his head and began to inhaled deeply, inflating his chest. Danny glanced back over his shoulder as he ran, a look of panic forming on his face.

"Wait, he's not gonna- Oh man, he is!" Danny stopped running suddenly, skidding a few feet. He turned on his feet to face Aragon, teeth gritted in nervousness.

At that moment, Aragon threw his head forward as a giant blast of blue-green ecto-fire burst from his mouth. The ecto-fire seared through the air of the hallway towards Danny who made no attempt to move. Instead, he allowed a wide and more than slightly insane grin to spread over hi face before inhaling as deeply as he could, despite the straitjacket restricting his chest. As he exhaled, a cloud of icy, blue-white mist blew from inside Danny's mouth in a much larger version of his normal ghost sense.

The arctic cloud collided with the blast of fire from Aragon and the freezing and burning ectoplasms spun around one another for a moment before exploding outward into a huge cloud of light. Aragon wrapped his wings around his face and neck to protect himself from the reaching tendrils of ectoplasm. He growled as the explosion faded and glanced up.

The walls and floor in front of Aragon were covered in a layer of dripping extoplasmic ice, with small blue-green fires burning here and there. The one thing that was no longer in the hallway was Danny Phantom. He had taken the opportunity to escape. The look of shock on Aragon's scaly face morphed into one of rage. His amulet began to glow brighter and he practically screamed.

"Alright then, Phantom! You can run and hide, but you won't _escape_!"

…

"Phew."

Danny panted slightly, glancing over his shoulder. He sat with his back against the wall in a small side corridor off the main hall where the various ghost's cells were located. After a moment, he relaxed and slouched slightly, drawing his knees up to his chest.

"I hate this," he grumbled unhappily. "All I can really do is run."

Not like he had a choice or anything. If he'd stayed and fought, the sad truth was that he would have lost. Badly. The straitjacket-like restraint he unwillingly wore did more than just prevented him from using his arms or hands. It sucked his energy away. The more he moved, the more it drained him of his power and the weaker he became. Danny probably couldn't pull off another attack if his life depended on it. And chances were, that his life would in the very near future.

Danny curled up into a ball, face hidden in his knees. If Aragon hadn't already been setting off his ghost sense and giving him material to work with …

"This really, really sucks," Danny complained, voice muffled.

An image of when he'd seen Kwan bleeding and unconscious flashed through Danny's broken mind and a pang of guilt flashed through him. It felt like a total betrayal of his personal nature to leave an injured person in harms way, especially if he was partially to blame for it.

"What was I supposed to do about it though?" Danny asked himself in a vain attempt to make himself feel better. He closed his eyes.

_You should have tried to help him!_

The non-existent 'voice' was familiar, nagging, and insistent. One he'd grown up with. And he didn't want to hear what he knew it had to say right now.

"Shut up. It doesn't matter anymore," he said angrily, choosing not to open his eyes to look at the hallucination he knew would be there the moment he did. Danny could see in his mind the gritted teeth, the flowing chestnut-orange hair held in a turquoise headband, and the black turtleneck of the angry twenty-one year-old woman.

_You should have tried! If you had, you wouldn't feel so guilty!_

"Stop _nagging_ me!" Danny said loudly, practically whining. He sat back against the wall again and waited a moment before opening one eye cautiously.

The hallway in from of him was empty. No upset imaginary sisters waiting to point their fingers and lecture him.

Danny snorted. "Hmph. And don't come back."

A wide smile spread over his face as a sudden thought struck him. "Wait a sec … Heh … Heh heh … Hey! Heh. I'm out! Ha ha! I'M OUT OF MY CELL!"

Danny broke out into completely hysterical laughter at that moment, almost yelling at his success at escape.

"HA! Look at me! Ha ha! I'm not in my cell anymore. Ha! Heh heh .."

There was a rather familiar clicking noise and Danny felt something metallic press against the side of his head. His laughter faded immediately and he looked up startled.

"Huh?"

A GIW trooper an agent with a goatee and mustached stood before the half ghost, both pointing ecto-weapons at his head. Danny felt a tickle of sweat slip down the back of his neck.

"Aw, crap."

…

Vlad Masters glared at nothing, his chin resting on his hand. He couldn't believe this.

_Being confined to a stupid lab room was _not_ part of my plans! _he thought angrily.

Because that was where he was, seated at the desk in some small side room where minor research was done. Computers and machinery completely coated the walls, except for a single window to the hallway currently covered by a shade. The desk was covered in a special magnifying glass for working with circuitry, a few empty petri dishes, various packets of paperwork, and Vlad's hat, which he had discarded there the moment he had sat down. A single trooper armed with the standard ecto-gun stood next to the door, which had been locked from the outside.

Which meant Vlad was currently stuck inside the room.

Vlad and Supervisor Marshall had been heading back to the ground floor when the Supervisor had received an alert on the communicator. It had reported an unknown and apparently dangerous ghost had invaded the Facility. Vlad had no doubt this was Aragon, fulfilling his part of the plan. Unfortunately, Vlad had not been counting on Supervisor Marshall to practically shove him into the nearest lab, grab a large ecto-blaster and toss in a single idiot trooper to guard him, stating that "Civilians should stay where it's safe. You, trooper, protect him."

Vlad glared at the offending trooper, who for the last half an hour had been doing pretty much nothing except standing there and looking uncomfortable. After glowering at the trooper for a few minutes (the poor man had begun to fidget and wonder why Vlad was staring at him, as it was kind of creepy), Vlad sighed. There were still ways out of this situation. First up, the diplomatic approach.

Vlad gripped his cane and stood up with a bit of effort before walking over to the trooper.

"You are sure I cannot simply leave to return to the ground floor? Surely it'd be just as safe."

"Sorry, sir. My orders are very clear. For your own safety, you are not to leave this room."

Vlad said nothing in response to the trooper, instead turning to look at the window. So much for the diplomatic approach. Time for the sneaky approach.

Vlad lifted the shade slightly, peering outside. He stared out for a moment before giving a loud gasp. He immediately dropped the shade and stumbled back a fake expression of horror on his face.

"Aaahh! Oh no!" He said loudly, pretending to be utterly terrified. The trooper quickly rushed over to the window to look outside himself.

"Sir, what was it?" the trooper asked. "What's wrong?"

Vlad suddenly gripped the trooper's shoulder. The man barely had time to look back to Vlad before volts of purple and red extoplasmic lightning jolted though his body from Vlad's hand. The trooper spasmed for a moment, his skeleton almost visible through both skin and armor. Then Vlad released him, and the man collapsed, unconscious and still twitching slightly.

Vlad stepped over the fallen GIW soldier, smiling slightly.

"I'm afraid those orders of yours have been … 'revoked,'" the old hybrid joked. He kneeled carefully next to the trooper, leaning on his can for support. He reached down to the small case attached to the trooper's belt and pulled out a small flat device similar to a key card. It was, in fact, more or less just that, a special electronic access key that could be programmed to remember the security codes for multiple doors and containers and as such was able to open them.

Vlad shook his head in mock disapproval as he stood back up. "Supervisor Marshall _really_ should be pickier as to who he gives access keys to. A foot solider, honestly!"

He turned and walked over to the wall behind the desk where he'd been previously sitting, eyes focused on a particular case embedded in the wall.

"But then, if he was more careful, I suppose this would be a great deal more difficult," Vlad said smugly, inserting the access key into the small slot below the case. The doors of the case slid open immediately, revealing a glowing blue cylinder. Curious as the cylinder was, it was the device inside this cylinder that interested Vlad. He removed it carefully, hiding it in the pocket of the vest he wore beneath his Armani suit.

When he was done, Vlad turned and walked back past the desk toward the trooper. The man wasn't going to die from the damage Vlad had dealt him, but he would probably have little to no memory of the last hour or so, which was exactly what Vlad wanted. And that meant Vlad could gloat as much as he wished.

"I'm sure your superiors are very proud of having successfully coated the outside of the lab doors and hallway walls with a substance that prevents ghosts from phasing through them. But a word from the wise," Vlad grabbed his hat off the table and stuck it on his head with a wide grin.

"That's only really effective if ghosts can't phase _out_ either," he crowed. Vlad then turned and promptly phased through the door, topping only to turn and wave at the trooper.

"Ta," he said lightly and vanished into the hallway.


End file.
